BIG BROTHER WATCH AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
Records
6.27. The oversight regime allows the Interception of Communications
Commissioner to inspect the warrant application upon which the Secretary of State’s
decision is based, and the interception agency may be required to justify the content.
Each intercepting agency should keep the following to be made available for scrutiny
by the Commissioner as he or she may require:
All applications made for warrants complying with section 8(4), and
applications made for the renewal of such warrants;
All warrants and certificates, and copies of renewal and modification
instruments (if any);
Where any application is refused, the grounds for refusal as given by the
Secretary of State;
The dates on which interception started and stopped.
6.28. Records should also be kept of the arrangements for securing that only
material which has been certified for examination for a purpose under section 5(3) and
which meets the conditions set out in section 16(2) – 16(6) of RIPA in accordance
with section 15 of RIPA is, in fact, read, looked at or listened to. Records should be
kept of the arrangements by which the requirements of section 15(2) (minimisation of
copying and distribution of intercepted material) and section 15(3) (destruction of
intercepted material) are to be met. For further details see the chapter on ‘Safeguards’.
7. SAFEGUARDS
7.1. All material intercepted under the authority of a warrant complying with
section 8(1) or section 8(4) of RIPA and any related communications data must be
handled in accordance with safeguards which the Secretary of State has approved in
conformity with the duty imposed on him or her by RIPA. These safeguards are made
available to the Interception of Communications Commissioner, and they must meet
the requirements of section 15 of RIPA which are set out below. In addition, the
safeguards in section 16 of RIPA apply to warrants complying with section 8(4). Any
breach of these safeguards must be reported to the Interception of Communications
Commissioner. The intercepting agencies must keep their internal safeguards under
periodic review to ensure that they remain up-to-date and effective. During the course
of such periodic reviews, the agencies must consider whether more of their internal
arrangements might safely and usefully be put into the public domain.
The section 15 safeguards
7.2. Section 15 of RIPA requires that disclosure, copying and retention of
intercepted material is limited to the minimum necessary for the authorised purposes.
Section 15(4) of RIPA provides that something is necessary for the authorised
purposes if the intercepted material:
Continues to be, or is likely to become, necessary for any of the purposes
set out in section 5(3) – namely, in the interests of national security, for the
purpose of preventing or detecting serious crime, or for the purpose, in
circumstances appearing to the Secretary of State to be relevant to the
interests of national security, of safeguarding the economic well-being of
the UK;
Is necessary for facilitating the carrying out of the functions of the
Secretary of State under Chapter I of Part I of RIPA;
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